1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for dispensing water or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to an automatic system whereby water is dispensed from preferably bottles and transported to spigots or other dispensing sources, such as an automatic ice maker.
2. General Background
Presently there is a ever increasing use of bottled water, particularly spring water or purified water, due to the ever increasing pollution of our lakes and rivers, and the distrust of the municipal water systems nationwide. In the present state of the art, bottled water is purchased in five gallon containers, which then must be raised onto a dispensing system such as a fountain or the like, which may have a spigot for dispensing a flow of water from the dispenser, the flow of water being transported to the spigot via gravity, with the flow opening of the water bottle positioned downward to allow flow into the dispensing system.
There are several obvious shortcomings to this particular manner. Initially, a five gallon bottle of water is very heavy, and cannot be lifted by elderly individuals, weakened individuals or children. Also, it becomes ever increasingly cumbersome and messy to attempt to position a bottle of water of that size upside down onto a dispenser, without spilling or in some instances dropping the entire bottle and causing either breakage or spillage throughout the area. Next, the flow of water out of the system, since the system depends solely on gravity for its source of power, is rather slight, and is not a flow which is amenable to receiving any type of quantity of water within a short amount of time. Also, since in fact this is a gravity flow system, all the components of the system must be placed in one particular area, and therefore, may be quite unsightly in ones home, etc. with all components in the same location. Therefore, the transport of the water takes an increased amount of time. Also, due to the fact that the water system must flow from one source, the availability of the water depends on that one spigot. Therefore, should one want to obtain water from more than one source, or wish to fill more than one container, it is required that he obtain the water from that one source and cannot depend on an alternative source, while the one source is being utilized.
Several patents discuss the alternative transport of bottled water from the bottle into a spigot, the most pertinent being as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,743 issued to Benny, et al. entitled "System for Transferring Water" teaches the use of a pump system that is designed to draw water from a bottle or the like apparatus. In this parituclar patent, the system has been designed to transport water directly from the bottle into the water dispenser and fails to teach the use of the water in a spigot in the sink or in an ice maker.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,292 issued to W. B. Terry entitled "Water Cooler" teaches the use of a water cooler having a water cooling reservoir into which water to be cooled is pumped from containers supported by a support frame. This particular patent does not teach the use of a system for transporting the water from the bottle water container into the faucet on the sink or into an ice maker.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,154 issued to Jaeger entitled "Fluid Dispensing System" also teaches the use of a plurality of bottles from which water is pumped having an empty alarm and a pump activator and a counter for determining when the bottles may be empty. Also is provided a reserovir into which the water is pumped and the reservoir having a capillary outlet for dispensing the fluid therefrom. Again, this particular patent utilizes the force of gravity and the water is not pumped out of the faucet at the sink or is not able to be utilized in an ice maker.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,634 issued to Osborne entitled "Water Bottle Transfer Device" also teaches the use of a device for transferring water from a standard water bottle to a dispenser spot, without a need for lifting the bottle. There is also indicated a control sensor and an indicating means to indicate the pressure of the water flow. Like the previous patents, this particular patent also has a reservoir for the water and the water is dispensed into a typical water container for dispensing the water by use of gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,181 issued to Parker, et al. entitled "Liquid Dispenser" also teaches the use of a unit for dispensing water from a bottle, including the various structures for conveying the water from the bottle into a dispensing unit and the use of a switching means and pump means in order to move the water therefrom. Like the previous patents, the water is delivered into a reservoir unit and is dispensed from a spigot on the unit. Also, there is no language in the patent which teaches the use of transferring the water to the sink, faucet or the the ice maker of an ice box.
It is evident from the patents cited, that none of the patents cited do teach the method and apparatus for moving water from a water bottle through a pump means into the a spigot mounted on the sink or into the ice maker, with an automatic shut-off when the water pressure has reached a certain level within the outlet line between the pump and the spigot or ice maker.